The War in Ukraine and International Law

The war in Ukraine is fast approaching its second anniversary since its commencement on 24 February 2022 as a blatant aggression by Russia. As we discuss in detail in this book, there are multiple international legal issues that arise and require addressing. What is more, the very international legal order is under threat, insofar as the fundamental international law obligations are not being complied with and the basic international rules are utterly ignored. This book discusses a number of international law issues arising from the war in Ukraine. It covers not only the traditional subjects of war, such as jus ad bellum, international criminal law, and the law of neutrality, but also the relatively new issues arising from the economic sanctions against Russia, including aspects of the WTO law and international investment law. This book provides the readers with opportunities to reconsider the various legal aspects of the war in Ukraine.

Masahiko Asada (LL.M. and LL.D., Kyoto University) is Professor of International Law at the Faculty of Law, Doshisha University, and Professor Emeritus at Kyoto University. He served as President of the Japanese Society of International Law from 2018-2020, and President of the Japan Association of Disarmament Studies from 2013-2015. He was a member of the UN Panel of Government Experts on Verification from 2005-2007 and of the Panel of Experts for DPRK Sanctions from 2009-2010. Professor Asada has also served as a member (and occasionally Vice Chairperson or Chairperson) of the Confidentiality Commission of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) since 1997. He was elected as an associate member of the Institut de droit international (IDI) and as a member of the UN International Law Commission (ILC) both in 2021. In his country, he has been a member (and occasionally Chairperson) of various Advisory Councils and Committees of the government, includingthe Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Ministry of Defense and the Science and Technology Agency as well as the Prime Miniter’s Office and the Cabinet Office. His areas of research cover the use of force, United Nations law, arms control and disarmament, international humanitarian law, law of treaties, law of the sea, law of State responsibility, law of State succession, law of international organizations, and the settlement of disputes. His publications include Post-War Reparations between Japan and China under International Law (Toshindo, 2015, in Japanese), Economic Sanctions in International Law and Practice (Routledge, 2020, editor), and “International Law of Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament”, Recueil des cours, Vol. 424 (2022).  

Dai Tamada is Professor of International Law at Graduate School of Law, Kyoto University. He holds LL.M. (Kyoto University 2000) and Ph.D. (Kyoto University 2014). His research areas cover international dispute settlement, international investment law, the law of treaties, and the law of the sea. He has been committee member in Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and Ministry of Justice (MOJ) of Japan. His recent publications include Malgosia Fitzmaurice and Dai Tamada (eds.), Whaling in the Antarctic: Significance and Implications of the ICJ Judgment (Brill/Nijhoff, 2016), Dai Tamada and Philippe Achilleas (eds.), Theory and Practice of Export Control: Balancing International Security and International Economic Relations (Springer, 2017), and Piotr Szwedo, Richard Peltz-Steele and Dai Tamada (eds.), Law and Development: Balancing Principles and Values (Springer, 2019), and Dai Tamada and Keyuan Zou (eds.), Implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: State Practice of China and Japan (Springer,2021).